Johnpaul88: Barcelona bought players for 663,7M in the last decaded and won 21 trophies, while Madrid bought for 1107,7M and won 7 trophies. [via sport]

Barcelona and Real Madrid did not start existing in the last decade, bloke.

honeric01:
Attacking aspect, we're good at developing players, but defensive aspect, we're not, so the law of comparative advantage states that you import what you can't produce while exporting what you can. we need to invest in DEFENDERS, that's my take, yet we have invested more in Attackers we can easily produce.

Good point.
Yet we seem to buy more strikers than any other type of players.
They also cost us far more than any defender would. Look at Ibra, Sanchez, and now Neymar. Combined worth of around 170 million euros

nitlad:

Barcelona and Real Madrid did not start existing in the last decade, bloke.

Hard to blame us for thinking that way, considering that Real Madrid seem to have done all their good work in the 50s and 60s
None of us were born then, and neither were you, so what's the point?

AjanleKoko:

Good point.
Yet we seem to buy more strikers than any other type of players.
They also cost us far more than any defender would. Look at Ibra, Sanchez, and now Neymar. Combined worth of around 170 million euros

I was actually thinking TATA was going to sign some defenders from his former club being a defender himself, see as the man rough me for mud.

Valencia's 2 goals scared me, wondering what we're going to do when faced with clubs with more attacking firepower.

AjanleKoko:
Hard to blame us for thinking that way, considering that Real Madrid seem to have done all their good work in the 50s and 60s
None of us were born then, and neither were you, so what's the point?

Oh I see, finest era in our history versus arguably the worst in theirs eh? How convenient.

They seem to have done all their good work in the 50s and 60s, and they have more Liga Titles than Barça from the 70s to date.

Football is rooted in history oga - If you wan discard achievements of yore so to say, kukuma find a relatively new sport started "in the last decade" for Barça.

nitlad:

Oh I see, finest era in our history versus arguably the worst in theirs eh? How convenient.

They seem to have done all their good work in the 50s and 60s, and they have more Liga Titles than Barça from the 70s to date.

Football is rooted in history oga - If you wan discard achievements of yore so to say, kukuma find a relatively new sport started "in the last decade" for Barça.

Sorry to disappoint you.
If we go back 30 years even (still before your time, I'm sure), Barca still has more titles than Madrid.
On the official log, Barca has won more official titles than Madrid (77-75). Even with the titles they packed in the days of yore

^^ lol funny arguments but we know the club that is still termed the most successful club in the world.

AjanleKoko:

Sorry to disappoint you.
If we go back 30 years even (still before your time, I'm sure), Barca still has more titles than Madrid.
On the official log, Barca has won more official titles than Madrid (77-75). Even with the titles they packed in the days of yore

Don't mind the guy calling me bloke as though he know everything. Except the major trophies like UCL & league titles, Barca pass Madrid in Trophy hauls and yet Madrid have the backing of the government in breaking & setting record transfers.

^^^^ I guess he doesn't even know that majority of the league titles they won then was as a direct result of monopoly. Real Madridistas won't go anywhere near such argument because they know how they came about having much more leaue titles than we do...

Pharoh: ^^ lol funny arguments but we know the club that is still termed the most successful club in the world.

Just an euphemism. But we all know the reality.

AjanleKoko:
Sorry to disappoint you.
If we go back 30 years even (still before your time, I'm sure), Barca still has more titles than Madrid.
On the official log, Barca has won more official titles than Madrid (77-75). Even with the titles they packed in the days of yore

Johnpaul88: Don't mind the guy calling me bloke as though he know everything. Except the [size=50pt]major trophies like UCL & league titles,[/size] Barca pass Madrid in Trophy hauls and yet Madrid have the backing of the government in breaking & setting record transfers.

There you have it Ajakaja, you have been sired by your fellow secessionist. He supoz back you ni o, but he ended up putting you to the sword.

funny.


Can't believe we didn't sign that mangala guy from porto Hope we won't be having a repeat of last season when injuries and fatigue crawl in.

flolancracker: funny.


Can't believe we didn't sign that mangala guy from porto Hope we won't be having a repeat of last season when injuries and fatigue crawl in.

No we won't. We will be luckier this time!

This is the list of our CL squad.

Goalkeepers No. Name PG 1 Víctor Valdés - - 13 José Manuel Pinto- - 25 Oier Olazábal - -

Defenders No. Name 2 Martín Montoya - - 3 Gerard Piqué - - 5 Carles Puyol - - 14 Javier Mascherano- - 15 Marc Bartra - - 18 Jordi Alba - - 21 Adriano - - 22 Daniel Alves - -

Midfielders No. Name PG 4 Cesc Fàbregas - - 6 Xavi Hernández - - 8 Andrés Iniesta - - 12 Jonathan Dos Santos- - 16 Sergio Busquets - - 17 Alex Song - - 24 Sergi Roberto - -

Forwards No. Name PG 7 Pedro Rodríguez- - 9 Alexis Sánchez - - 10 Lionel Messi - - 11 Neymar - - 19 Ibrahim Afellay - - 20 Cristian Tello - - 23 Isaac Cuenca - -

Can somebody agree we have a very thin squad with limited depth? If i look at the squad for clubs like Madrid, Bayern, Chelsea,Man City and a whole lot of others, I begin to wonder why we have this little squad? But barring injuries, which are inevitable, we will be fine any way. I am only happy that my beloved Afellay is on the squad list for the UCL. We should have seen alot more from that fantastic player but injury have really hampered his progress with the team. I just hope he has seen the worst of this injury nightmares!

Johnpaul88: Can somebody agree we have a very thin squad with limited depth? If i look at the squad for clubs like Madrid, Bayern, Chelsea,Man City and a whole lot of others, I begin to wonder why we have this little squad? But barring injuries, which are inevitable, we will be fine any way. I am only happy that my beloved Afellay is on the squad list for the UCL. We should have seen alot more from that fantastic player but injury have really hampered his progress with the team. I just hope he has seen the worst of this injury nightmares!

Thin squad?? I don't see it oh! Your midfield and attack is stacked and the defence is ok although I no know wetin una dey look when Athletico sign Tobias Alderweireld

A-40:

Thin squad?? I don't see it oh! Your midfield and attack is stacked and the defence is ok although I no know wetin una dey look when Athletico sign Tobias Alderweireld

Defence isn't okay oh.
No reliable central defender. Not even one. Pique, the best one we have, is average on his best day. Even Mascherano, a converted midfielder, has been playing better.

A-40:

Thin squad?? I don't see it oh! Your midfield and attack is stacked and the defence is ok although I no know wetin una dey look when Athletico sign Tobias Alderweireld

Who's he? Never heard of him.

The squad is so thin that if we lose like 5 of our regulars to injury for like 3-6 months, then we should just be praying we finish mid table.

Johnpaul88: Who's he? Never heard of him.

A promising talent from Ajax! He can play at RB and CB and would adapt to Barca's style easy! He's a surefire starter for Belgium as well

Its a shame that Barca were running over Europe willing to pay over the odds for an erratic Luiz and a 29 year old Thiago Silva when this kid at only 24 was available for less than £7m

Johnpaul88: Who's he? Never heard of him.

AFC Ajax central defender. Just joined Althletico Madrid on the last day.

If we had signed at least a C defender, it would have been a little bit of relief. Puyol is injury prone,and pique is our worst defender. Alves should be in center defend sometimes, while Andriano play 2 then.

But with our style of play, we will have problem with clubs that have attacking powers nearly like ours, except if those clubs are simply unlucky or having their bad days.

cisse7575: If we had signed at least a C defender, it would have been a little bit of relief. Puyol is injury prone,and pique is our worst defender. Alves should be in center defend sometimes, while Andriano play 2 then.

But with our style of play, we will have problem with clubs that have attacking powers nearly like ours, except if those clubs are simply unlucky or having their bad days.

Joke of the day!

^^**** Not really a Joke , Alves possess that tenacity and no-nonsense plays -- traits possessed by world class defenders .

sweetguy10: ^^**** Not really a Joke , Alves possess that tenacity and no-nonsense plays -- traits possessed by world class defenders .

Well, he is found in the center most of the time, but then it's usually too late.

sweetguy10: ^^**** Not really a Joke , Alves possess that tenacity and no-nonsense plays -- traits possessed by world class defenders .

Alves as a central defender is a time bomb bro, he's almost becoming a 7, he hardly stays back.

honeric01:

Alves as a central defender is a time bomb bro, he's almost becoming a 7, he hardly stays back.

He will adapt so easily and quickly even though he nearly becomes 7

Messi backs Madrid by joining them in an Olympic tournament!!

eyoniggar: Messi backs Madrid by joining them in an Olympic tournament!!

Sportmanship!

the best signing we could have is a 28 year old puyol. wishful thinking. we should have signed a centre back. a big one.

we've got 2 full backs who are much better offensively than defensively, we have 1 inconsistent centre back, 1 make shift centre back, 1 substitute rookie centre back and 1 substitute pensioneer centre back. we are doomed for this season. real madrid only started beating us when puyol got old and abidal got sick. see what bayern did to us as well. we are doomed for real.

Let's just wait and see what happens from now till the winter window opens... It seems three youngster defenders are currently being seriously monitored. Performances of our defenders until the window opens will determine if it will come to fruition.

Eric Abidal criticises Barcelona for not paying him during illness
• Monaco defender hits out at old club over treatment
• Frenchman took year out due to liver transplant

Eric Abidal is unhappy at the the way his career ended at Barcelona but says he has been given a new lease of life at Monaco. Photograph: Angel Martinez/Real Madrid via Getty Images
Eric Abidal is angry at how his Barcelona career came to an end and has claimed he was not even paid by the club when he was seriously ill.

The 34-year-old had a liver transplant last April, ruling him out of the 2012 European Championship and keeping him away from football for one year. He returned to make a few appearances for Barcelona before leaving to join Monaco this summer.

"The problem was that my contract was coming to an end. In that case, either it's renewed, either it ends. I was prepared for both," Abidal said in an interview with the sports daily L'Equipe. "It was hard to accept but you don't have the choice. The adventure with Barcelona is over, but I'm very happy to have started another one with Monaco."

However, Abidal said he was disappointed at how his departure was announced. "What was hard to understand was what Barcelona said during my last press conference. By saying that it was a professional choice, it made other clubs doubt.

"It wasn't even a question of money. The proof being that all the months I was ill, the club didn't pay me. Now I'm lucky to have the trust of the Monaco coach and president. Touch wood, everything's fine. But it's true that there was a time when I doubted myself."

Abidal has played 90 minutes for Monaco in every league game and is expected to play for France on Friday in their World Cup qualifier against Georgia.

After joining from Lyon in 2007, Abidal played 125 league games for Barcelona, helping the Catalan club to win four league titles and two European Cups. He forged a close bond with their former coach Pep Guardiola, who is now in charge of Bayern Munich.

"He's someone who appreciates me enormously and I'm still in touch with," Abidal said. "He was a great coach. He's the one who gave me my chance. If he was still there, I may have continued [with Barcelona]."

Source: here.

I wonder why they sent him away sef. They could have counted on him actually, at least at center back.
Still better than not having anybody